I slept in until midday, then went for a ride out through Peterborough on my bike. Heading back into town I picked up the new New Order CD, had a hot chocolate at Cafe Nero, then went for a walk by the river. After wandering through fields and trees for a while stumbled across a sculpture garden with a Caro and some Gormleys in. This set me thinking, and I scribbled away feverishly on various artistic ideas.The napkin my notes were on disappeared on the way home but I reconstituted the notes in my notebook. Hopefully I didn’t lose any ideas. Then I put a stew in the oven for later, and blogged for a while.All in all a perfect day. Life, nature, music, art, food, and no hassle.Bliss. 🙂

One definition of a random system is one that cannot be more concisely described than giving a complete account of it.Aesthetics may require a complete account of (human) consciousness to account for it. Aesthetics would therefore be random in this sense. But randomness would not, of itself, be aesthetic…

I’d give the first episode of the new Dr.Who a “B”. The next episode looks much better.

The production quality is high for the BBC. Billie Piper makes a very effective companion (yes, really). Christopher Ecclestone makes a semi-convincing Doctor, capturing his levity without his underlying gravity. I’m sure he’ll grow into the role, and despite losing his footing when first facing the villain of the piece he is surprisingly affecting when the confrontation strikes a personal note.

The only real problem is the terrible incidental music. I’m sure some people will find the plot silly, but it’s no sillier than the average Star Trek plot, and surprisingly evocative (blink and you’ll miss the Doctor recount the entire history of the star-spanning Auton war and his part in it). It’s pitched at kids, just like the original Dr. Who (which people always seem to forget). Tom & friends were raving about it. So the target audience have been hit.

Favourite line:

Rose: “If you’re an alien, how come you sound like you’re from the North?”Doctor: “Lots of planets have a North!”

I like this for two reasons. Firstly I’ve a soft spot for landscape, and I always like to see someone who takes the idea of a contemporary landscape seriously. Secondly, it’s simple but effective use of graphics (and code) rather than algorithmic one-upmanship. The result is something that is situated within and extends the story of art.